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Talk:Nova/@comment-25162335-20150106101302/@comment-25065826-20150106183915
Driving for 10 minutes in quiet, we break speed limits twice over. The sound of the engine roaring is comforting; I get the feeling I'm free. Hannah asks me, without turning her eyes from the road, if 'I could check my phone?' I look down, shocked at forgetting to pack it, and Hannah reaches behind her with one hand, grabbing her bad and pulling out... My phone. 'Thanks, sis'. I ask what she wants me to look up, and I type in 'Nova reports South Africa.' I guess she wants to see if the camera in our house posted anything before it... exploded. Before the page loads, a gunshot from outside the car. I look ahead and see what I was fearing deep down. What I see scares me. A house is burning, flames glowing in tall columns on a rooftop. A scream, and a bang swiftly silencing it. I gasp, and just before I turn to face away, a girl sprints from the house. Bullets racing towards her, she keeps running. The bullets literally stop in mid air, and fall, energy-less, to the floor. Hannah, who I realise has been driving slowly, pulls up in front of the girl and stops. Closing the 20 metres between us, the girl runs fast towards us and I reach back to open the back door nearest her, knowing what Hannah intends. The girl reaches the door, and thank God I don't have contacts in - she looks around madly, considers avoiding us, but notices my eyes. She swallows, jumps in and slams the door as bullets hit the pavements, wide from their target. The girl slides into the boot - maybe to have some space to herself - pulls up a chair, Hannah restarts the car and we are rocketing off. I turn, looking for eyes, and see the girl inhaling and exhaling deeply, I expect more from panic than exertion. I catch her eye, and smile. She looks somewhere to the left - My dead eye - and smiles weakly. Maybe I could use it as a fear factor, I think, turning from her and facing my brother, who is looking down sadly and looks very alone. I turn back to the front, almost risking my neck as Hannah emergency stops. 'What is it?' I ask impatiently, and Hannah points out the back window, not even turning and ripping off her seatbelt. She hops out, and jogs to the people. We all, including my silent brother, turn to look, and after a few seconds my eyes - eye - focus on two figures. I scan the car - I'm glad we chose the minibus/Jeep, we only have enough seats in this one for 3 more people. And, from Hannah's face a few seconds ago, she's going to try help these two people. If they want, they can hitch a ride. I see Hannah reach the side of the road and signal towards the people - two males, I figure out - And get out myself, jogging towards her. I imagine that this is a scene in a film where the rain would be tipping down, Hannah coming to the rescue and the boys arriving in the car, suddenly dry and looking wild. In reality? No rain. I sigh to myself, smile, and stop considering the situation. The guys arrive, one leaping into the front, where I was comfortably sitting moments ago, after a few seconds of contemplation. The other follows quickly, sliding into the boot and pulling up the chair for him to sit on. No idea what the girl thinks, but we can sort that later. He smiles at her kindly. He seems like a gentlemen, I think, and just at the right moment bullets sound behind us. I leap in, not sure where I am in the car, and slam the door closed, Hannah leaping in and driving off quickly. Turns out, I'm in the middle section of the car, Tom by my left. Hannah and the new boy in the front, the other boy and the new girl in the 'boot' next to him. After a few minutes, Hannah breaks the deep silence with - 'Well, busy night for these Mutants, ey? The Police have their hands full.' Everyone's eyes in the car widen (except my brother) and Hannah laughs. 'I'm joking!' she says, flashing her eyes in the rear-view mirror. Everyone calms a little. I think of saying something about the fact that the Police probably timed it by the day, but don't. Silence fills the car for a long while, and the journey to the East of South Africa begins, finally uninterrupted. Until the new boy in the back's heavy breathing gets noticed. He has a gaping bullet hole in his forearm.